Traditionally, postal rates for first-class mailings have differed significantly between letters and postcards. For non-automation mailings the difference in rate between First Class letters and postcards can be as much as 12.cent., with present and projected differences for all different classes of non-automation and automation letters and postcards being a minimum of about 9.4.cent.. This provides a significant incentive to utilize postcards for a wide variety of specialized mailings. However, despite the long-recognized savings that are possible, mailings for negotiable instruments have heretofore not taken much advantage of these differences in postal rates.
While there have been a significant number of proposals in the past for combining postcards and negotiable instruments, such as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 283,841, 1,264,795 and 5,085,470, such proposals have not been particularly successful. In each of these proposals, a postcard is provided which has a negotiable instrument such as a check or money order on one face, and mailing address and postage indicia on the opposite face; or negotiable instrument indicia and mailing indicia on the same face. Perhaps one reason why these procedures have not been particularly successful is that there is a lack of confidentiality associated with them, meaning that if the negotiable instruments are for anything but small amounts of money, there is significantly increased possibility of theft, and certainly an undesirable lack of respect for the privacy of the addressee/payee. Also, when the negotiable instrument indicia is exposed during mailing it has the possibility of being defaced by foreign substances, or smeared, perhaps even to such an extent that a bank or financial institution will not accept the negotiable instrument.
According to the present invention a mailer intermediate, and a combination postcard and negotiable instrument mailer, are provided which have the advantages of earlier proposals for combined postcards and negotiable instruments, but without the drawbacks. The mailers according to the present invention take advantage of the smaller first-class postal rates for postcards, yet provide privacy and protection for the negotiable instruments forming part of the mailers. The mailers according to the present invention are constructed from a single sheet of cellulose based (e.g. paper) stock which is preferably duplex imaged utilizing any conventional imaging techniques, and simply folded and held together to provide confidentiality of a negotiable instrument on the interior face thereof, yet the negotiable instrument is not in any way defaced. These desirable results are preferably achieved according to the invention by providing one portion of the single sheet which provides for confidentiality and also may be utilized as a reply mailing, and by the second portion which is divided into a negotiable instrument portion and an outgoing address portion, the two portions being separable by a line of weakness such as a perforation line.
According to one aspect of the present invention a mailer intermediate foldable into postcard size is provided. The term "postcard" or "postcard size" as used in the present specification and claims means mailings which are smaller than conventional letters and have a favorable postage differentiation provided under United States Postal Service schedules. The mailer intermediate comprises: A quadrate sheet of cellulose based stock having first and second side edges, first and second end edges, and first and second faces. A first line of weakness extending substantially transverse to the side edges and substantially bisecting them. A second line of weakness extending substantially transverse to the side edges and between the first line of weakness and the first end edge, the second line of weakness closer to the first end edge than to the first line of weakness, and dividing the sheet into an outgoing address portion between the first end edge and the second line of weakness, and a negotiable instrument portion between the first and second lines of weakness. The quadrate sheet dimensioned so that when folded about the first line of weakness to form a mailer, the mailer has postcard size dimensions. And negotiable instrument indicia, including payee indicia, imaged on the first face negotiable instrument portion.
The outgoing addressee indicia is typically imaged on the second face outgoing address portion, and the negotiable instrument indicia is upside down with respect to the outgoing addressee indicia. A first adhesive pattern is typically formed on a first face adjacent the first end edge. A second adhesive portion may be formed on the first face along each of the side edges and the outgoing address portion. On the opposite side of first line of weakness from the negotiable instrument portion may comprise a reply portion, with reply addressee indicia imaged on the reply portion first face. The reply addressee indicia preferably has the same orientation as the negotiable instrument indicia, the first and second faces of the quadrate sheet being readily duplex imaged utilizing any type of conventional imaging equipment either the impact type, or preferably the non-impact type (such as the MIDAX.TM. high speed, toner-based, electrostatic imaging process known as ion deposition).
The first and second lines of weakness may comprise perforations, die cuts, fold lines, or score lines, and preferably are perforation lines. The size of the quadrate sheet in order to secure an effective postcard size of the mailer form therefrom, while providing significant area for a negotiable instrument, preferably comprises sheet side edges having a length of about 8.5 inches, and end edges having a length of about 6 inches. The second line of weakness is spaced from the first end edge a distance of between about 1.2-1.6 inches, e.g. about 1.5 inches. A negotiable instrument may be of any type of negotiable instrument such as a bank check, money order, or the like, and preferably includes payee, dollar amount, and MICR indicia. The reply portion may include survey indicia, having the same orientation as the outgoing addressee indicia.
According to another aspect of the present invention a mailer intermediate foldable into postcard size is provided comprising the following components: A quadrate sheet having first and second side edges, first and second end edges, and first and second faces, wherein the side edges have a length of about 8.5 inches, and the end edges have a length of about 6 inches. A first line of weakness extending substantially transverse to the side edges and substantially bisecting them. A second line of weakness extending substantially transverse to the side edges and between the first line of weakness and the first end edge, the second line of weakness spaced from the first end edge a distance of between about 1.2-1.6 inches and dividing the sheet into an outgoing address portion between the first end edge and the second line of weakness, and a second portion between the first and second lines of weakness. First indicia imaged on the first face second portion. And outgoing addressee indicia imaged on the second face outgoing address portion.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a combination postcard and negotiable instrument mailer is provided comprising the following elements: A first quadrate cellulose material panel having a top face and a bottom face, first and second end edges, and first and second side edges. A second quadrate cellulose material panel having a top face and a bottom face, first and second edge edges, and first and second side edges. The bottom face of the first panel in face-to-face engagement with the top face of the second panel, with the first and second side and end edges of each substantially aligned with each other. The first and second panels integral at the second end edges thereof. The first and second panels each being of postcard size. A first adhesive pattern connecting the first and second panels together adjacent the first end edges thereof. A line of weakness formed in the first panel substantially transverse to the first and second side edges and substantially parallel to the first and second end edges thereof. Outgoing addressee indicia imaged on the top face of the first panel between the first end edge and the line of weakness. And negotiable instrument indicia, including payee indicia, imaged on the bottom face of the first panel between the second end edge and the line of weakness.
Preferably the outgoing addressee indicia includes name indicia that is the same as the name indicia of the payee indicia. Also the combination further comprises a second adhesive pattern connecting first and second panels together adjacent both the side edges thereof between the first end edges thereof in the line of weakness. The first pattern may be lines, zigzags, interrupted blocks, or preferably spaced dots. The second adhesive pattern may only be a single dot on each side, not exceeding one-quarter inch diameter. The adhesive may be any suitable conventional adhesive including rewettable, pressure activated, pressure sensitive, or heat activated. Spaced heat or pressure activated dots are preferred because they securely hold the panels together but allow ready separation.
The combination typically further comprises reply address indicia imaged on the top face of the second panel, and survey indicia imaged on the bottom face of the second panel. The side edges have a length of about 4.25 inches, the end edges have a length of about 6 inches, and the line of weakness is spaced from the first end edge of the first panel a distance of between about 1.2-1.6 inches (e.g. about 1.5 inches).
It is a primary object of the present invention to provide an intermediate for a mailer, and a mailer, which includes a negotiable instrument having confidentiality associated therewith, yet takes advantage of the significantly lower First Class rates for postcards compared to letters. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.